


Hot Cocoa and Espresso

by TheSpace_Dragon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, but its cute, idek guys, minor mention of hunk, minor mention of shiro, one OC, this is so fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 09:27:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9715406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSpace_Dragon/pseuds/TheSpace_Dragon
Summary: It was a case of falling for a grumpy customer who happened to be really cute and his lack of self-control.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sunprinted](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunprinted/gifts).



> Ok so this was supposed to be really short and sweet and it's fucking 7k. I don't know what happened, but here have it.

Lance leaned against the counter and groaned. Boredom was his unwanted friend today. Mid-day shifts were always slow, and if Lance wanted anything out of the shift at this point, it was a rush. Even a 5-person rush would be better than standing here at a register staring at an empty café.

He let out another sigh, puffing out his cheeks in a pout. If he looked on the bright side of this, his paycheck was going to be bigger than his last one. This pay period he picked up three extra shifts. Plus, he was working a double today because his coworker, Brian, was sick. He could only hope Blue was alright by herself. His cat always got antsy when he didn't come home at the normal time. She was clingy like that.

The door chimed and Lance immediately stood up straight and flashed his best smile.

“Hi, welcome to Juniberry Café!” he greeted.

The customer was pulling down his scarf, freeing his mouth so he could speak. Lance kept his smile in place, but in the back of his head he was freaking out. Okay, so the guy was like really cute? Could you blame him? The customer came up to the counter and eyed the menu. He had dark gray eyes and a mop of hair that…was that a mullet? How was this guy pulling off a mullet? It’s the 21st century, dude, not the 80s. Yet that didn’t really detract from how attractive this guy was. How was this even fair?

“Could I get a double shot espresso?” he asked.

Lance keyed it into the register and grabbed a cup, slipping a sleeve on it. “Sure, what’s your name, pretty boy?”

Normally, Lance would be scolded for hitting on the customers. A lot of the time he couldn’t help it because there were just so many gorgeous people in the world, he had to let them know. But since his manager was in the back catching up on the dishes from the morning rush, he was going to get lucky this time around.

The customer blinked before a light blush spread across his nose. “Uh, it’s Keith.”

“Alright, Keith,” Lance practically purred (someone stop him please). “Anything else I can get for you today?”

Keith stepped back from the counter to look over at the cooler full of other products that Juniberry carried but stepped back up after a quick glance. “Just the espresso today.”

Lance hummed and penned Keith’s name on the side of the cup, dotting the ‘I’ with a heart. It wasn’t really that necessary but hey, it looked cute now that it was there.

“Okay, that’ll be $3.49.”

Keith fished out his credit card and swiped it before moving off to the seating area. Lance took a quick peek at the rest of him as he went about making Keith's espresso. He had on dark jeans (they really showed off his ass), boots, a leather jacket, and the dark red scarf. Overall a pretty dark ensemble if Lance had an opinion on it, but Keith pulled off the bad boy vibe really,  _really_  well. The only other person Lance knew who could do that was Shiro, and Shiro was such a dad-friend that if he did try, it might end miserably.

Keith’s drink was done and Lance slapped on a lid.

“Double shot espresso for Keith!”

Habit had Lance calling out the order, granted it was in a softer voice than he would use for a rush, but when Keith was one of the five people in the store right now, it was kind of pointless.

Keith came to grab his coffee after powering up his laptop.

“Enjoy,” Lance cooed, winking.

Keith blinked and blushed again, mumbled a quick thanks before retreating back to his seat. Well, chalk up another loss for Lance.

The rest of his shift went pretty much the same way. One or two customers at a time, some there just for a quick coffee to get them through the midday crash, others there to socialize. Lance struck up a small conversation with each of them, more to stave off his own boredom than to actually get to know them. They were all pretty good about making small talk with him. He was all smiles and full of charisma, all in order to make sure that his customers had something to make their coffee experience better.

* * *

 

Lance’s next shift was in the morning, the opening shift. He always preferred this time anyways, he was a morning person. Some people were always going to be grumpy in the morning, but he made it his mission to brighten a customer’s day just a little when they came in for the morning caffeine spike.

After the normal rush of people, the constant “hi” and “what can I get for you?”, the shift started to slow down. Lance busied himself with cleaning up the mess he and his coworker had created with the constant slew of orders. He hummed and danced along with the music as he cleaned up.

The door chimed. Another customer. Once again Lance found himself smiling brightly at the person standing at the counter.

It was Keith.

Without even trying, Lance smiled a touch brighter for him. Keith looked down right exhausted, the bags under his eyes were certainly noticeable, and he slouched into his jacket.

“Hi, double shot right?” Lance asked. Memorizing customer’s orders was sort of Lance’s thing.

The other boy looked up and squinted at Lance. “How do you know my order?”

Lance was already writing Keith’s name on the cop, dotting the ‘I’ with the heart again, when he looked up over the rim of the cup. “With someone as pretty as you coming in, it’s hard not to.”

Keith scowled and dug out his wallet. “I would use any word other than ‘pretty’ for myself.”

“Hot? Handsome? Beautiful? Any of those work?” Lance set the cup down and keyed in Keith’s order.

Lance watched and waited for Keith to answer as he swiped his card, a small smirk on his lips.

Dark gray eyes looked up at him, wide and a little shocked. “Do you hit on everyone like this?”

Lance winked. “Only on the pretty one’s, pretty boy.”

Keith lit up, his blush glowing. Lance graced him with one of his trademark smiles before whirling away to hum and dance to the music while making Keith’s drink. His phone was plugged into the speakers for the shop today, and he had his chill playlist on, but occasionally one of the more upbeat songs would come on and Lance just couldn’t help himself.

“Double shot espresso for Keith,” he purred.

Keith’s blush was amazing to watch. He looked like the guy to school his emotions, leaving a stoic mask in place. But once he was complimented, the flush he sported looked like it should be permanent. Keith snatched the drink from the counter and quickly retreated to the back of the shop where there were a few open seats. Lance planted his hands on his hips and smiled after the guy.

He could call today a win, he got more than three words out of the surly guy with a mullet (that he pulled off really well).

* * *

 

Another midday shift and another day full of boredom. Lance really hated midday shifts, but it was all he could get sometimes with classes and everything.

Everything behind the counter was spotless, Brian was down in the cooler organizing. The stock that they did have was already organized and had been reorganized again thanks to Lance. Even the dishes were done. The syrups and flavorings were arranged alphabetically; napkins, half and half, soy milk, straws, cup sleeves, and sugar packets were all full. Trash had been taken care of, same with recycling. Slowly but surely (it was within the first two hours of the shift), he and Brian ran out of things to do.

If Lance’s boss was here, he would be getting his ass reamed for doodling on the cups. He even pulled out his colored sharpies from his backpack. He was getting pretty creative. Some of the cups had forests, one had a sailboat and waves on it. Another had little cats drawn all over it. The one he was working on had hearts all over it. Valentine’s day was coming up soon and he was really feeling the holiday. Granted he didn’t have a date yet, but who know what could happen in the next few days-

“Dude, are you going to doodle all day or take my order?”

Lance jumped and looked up. Shit was Keith.

“Oh, I’m sorry, man. Double shot still?”

“Like always.” Keith looked exceptionally testy today, Lance couldn’t help but worry a little.

“Everything alright, dude? You seem extra grumpy today.” Lance keyed in the order and wrote Keith’s name on a cup, and dotted the ‘I’ like normal.

Keith ran a hand through his hair, messing it all up. "It's been a long day, and I gotta go take my cat to the vet. He's down with something."

Lance began to make his drink, like always. “You have a cat? Hope they’re okay. I would be a mess if Blue was sick.”

“You have a pet?” Keith sounded a little surprised at that.

Lance smiled over his shoulder. “Yup! A cat, too. She’s clingy and always demands attention.”

He slipped a lid on to Keith’s cup and turned back to the counter. “Seriously, hope your cat gets better.”

Keith took the cup, a blush starting to form. “Thanks,” he choked out before running out of the shop.

Lance watched him, puzzled. Did not a lot of people know that Keith had a cat? He shrugged it off and looked behind him where he left the cup he was doodling on. Right? He looked under the counter, just in case he dropped it, but no luck. He counted up the ones he had doodled on, and none of them had hearts.

Where did it-

Oh.

Oh no.

Oh god no.

_He gave that cup to Keith._

He was so screwed. He really messed up this time. And just when he was getting beyond the casual conversation point. Lance yanked on his hair, freaking out, ready to go dig his own grave.

Okay, he needed to take a deep breath. It was just a cup, maybe Keith wouldn’t think anything of it and just drink it and toss it. No big deal. Wait, he dots the ‘I’ though. And that’s a freaking heart too. Oh god, he just ruined any chance he had with Keith. Shit.

Shit shit shit.

He paced back and forth, mentally berating himself for doing something so stupid.

Sooner or later, his shift came to an end. The whole time he was freaking out.

* * *

 

Lance walked into work, nervous and ready to flee at any sight of Keith. He never saw Keith in and around campus, but he knew that they went to the same college from a lucky glance at his ID when he pulled it out instead of his credit card.

But that didn’t help to calm Lance’s nerves. Not in the slightest.

He took to chewing on his nails, something that he would regret later that night, but the manager found the doodle cups from last time and he was lectured again. She was really starting to get exasperated with some of his antics, but for some reason, she kept him around. If he was like this at any other place, Lance was certain that he would've been fired by now.

Needless to say, he was going to be on his best behavior today. Nothing was going to go wrong.

If only he wasn’t suffering through another midday shift.

He let out a heavy breath and leaned on the back counter, watching the seating area. Everything that he could do was done, and it was just his luck that whoever he was supposed to work with this shift called off because they had a group project meeting. They didn’t really need anyone else on the midday shifts, the rushes were minimal, and this was basically the shift to clean up the messes that the morning team ended up making anyway. One person could easily do that all.

With that Lance grabbed a wet towel and headed out to the seating area and began to wipe down the tables and rearrange the chairs. He just needed to keep busy, keep his mind of-

The door chimed.

Lance looked up from the table and quickly looked back down, scrubbing at the table like there was no tomorrow.

Of course, he  _had_  to show up today too.

He heard the footsteps come up to him and dreaded the way Keith cleared his throat.

Freezing up, Lance glanced up and quickly back down. “H-Hey…”

“Hey.”

If Lance felt uncomfortable and anxious, Keith definitely looked it. His blush was light, and his gray eyes looked everywhere but Lance, despite standing right in front of him.

Lance just kept staring. He didn’t really expect Keith to come back and talk to him. And he didn’t really trust himself to say the right thing at the moment.

Keith took a deep breath and finally met his eyes. “Do you have a pen or something?”

“Uh, yeah?” He pulled the sharpie he had been using out of his apron and handed it to Keith.

Keith took the marker and grabbed onto Lance’s wrist before he could pull away.

“Hey, what are-”

Keith started to scrawl something on the inside of his wrist. “Just, I don’t know, call me when you’re off work today.”

“O-okay? What for?”

Keith capped the sharpie and handed it back to Lance. "It's fine if you don't want to, but after the cup thing, I just thought that…that you were – I don't know, interested?"

Lance gaped at him, his mouth even fell open. Was he being asked out?

“Look I totally get it if you don’t want to, but the hearts over the ‘I’s and stuff, plus all the hearts on the last cup…” Keith trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. He looked…shy?

“…You noticed all that?”

Keith looked up at him, his hand dropping from his neck. “I mean, was I not supposed to?”

Lance shook his head and leaned on the table next to him. “So, lemme get this straight, which I’m not by the way, but I guess you picked up on that already, but you, Keith, are asking me out? As in, on an actual date?”

Keith shrugged and crossed his arms. “If that’s what you want to call it, then yeah, I am.”

Lance took a deep breath. And proceeded to laugh. The whole situation was just so… funny?

The guy standing in front of him, the one who just asked him out, the one who looked like he could care less about anything, was asking him out on a date. Him. Lance. Of all people, it was him. He couldn’t help it.

Keith rolled his eyes. “Okay, so obviously you thought this was a joke, sorry for bothering you.”

“Dude, Keith, no it’s – it’s not that, oh gosh, phew, sorry sorry.” Lance tried to gather his wits about him. He wiped a stray tear and took a couple steadying breaths. God, who thought he would be the one asked out. “I’ll call you when I get off in an hour. Sound cool?”

“Uh, sure.” Keith blinked, the light blush coming back again.

“Great, talk to you then, Keith!”

“Yeah, talk to you then-” he took a quick look at Lance’s nametag “-Lance.”

Lance beamed. “You still want that double shot?”

Keith smiled a little back. “You still gonna heart the ‘I’?”

“Of course! Who do you take me for, some backwater Romeo?” Lance scoffed, “Please, I’m not just gonna give up now that you’re taking me on a date, pretty boy.”

Keith smiled, like the real deal kind of thing.

Lance could feel himself melting on the inside – like good god that smile was something else, but on the outside, he rolled his eyes. "Okay, pretty boy, just because you have a great smile, it does not mean that flashing me those pearly whites is gonna get you everything.”

He saw Keith’s smile sharpen, taking on a more flirtatious edge. “Well… is it working?”

“I have to get back to work.” Lance was a goner, there was no way he was going to survive this.

Keith chuckled. “Yeah, you do, because I’d still like my double shot, with the ‘I’ hearted, please.” And he freaking winked.

Lance damn near died.

* * *

 

Lance decided to wait till he was back at his apartment to call Keith. He’d been neglecting poor little Blue that past few days since homework had taken over his life and work took everything else. Needless to say, his poor cat down right livid with him for ignoring her.

To show that she was, Blue simply  _mrrowed_  at him and stalked away into the kitchen, instead of leaping up onto his shoulder and rubbing her head against his cheek. Lance loved that she was so affectionate, but at the same time, whenever she was vexed about something, Blue was the world’s most antisocial cat ever.

“Aww, Blue, c’mon girl, you know I can’t help it sometimes!” Lance trailed after his cat, kicking off his shoes. “Lemme make it up to you, please.”

But Blue was having nothing to do with him. She sat near her water bowl and decided it was a good time to groom. What a nice way to show her disinterest in him. Lance sagged and left his cat alone.

He moped about the kitchen, prepping dinner when he decided that now was no better time than any to call Keith.

He tapped in the numbers on his phone and hit call before tucking it into the crook of his neck. He wasn’t quite done using both of his hands for dinner.

Keith picked up on the fourth ring. “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Lance, the cute barista you asked out earlier.”

“Oh, hey.” Keith sounded surprised that he actually called. This should be fun.

“Hey.”

“So…what’s up?”

Lance cast a quick glance at Blue, who was still ignoring him. "Oh, you know, trying to figure a way to make my cat forgive me for ignoring her the past few days. Nothing new."

Keith chuckled a little, and Lance felt his knees go weak. “Why is she ignoring you?”

“Well, pretty boy, if you paid attention you would notice that I’ve been working the past three days. And homework is the other thing that has eaten up my time.”

“Sounds like you owe your cat an apology.”

Lance made an indignant noise and turned the stove down as his vegetables simmered in the pan. “It’s not like I can help it!”

“Uh huh, this is coming from the person who doodled on cups and got distracted,” Keith said lightly.

Oh, so sass was going to be the way this was going to go? Lance could deal with that. "Doodling is my major, pretty boy, can't help it."

“Mhm. Just give your cat some fish or something. It works for me.”

“And I bet your cat just loves to pretend to be angry at you.”

“…you know that actually makes a lot more sense now.”

Lance smiled smugly and stirred his veggies and peaked in the oven at the chicken that was baking. “Either way, I’m fresh out of fish, maybe Blue would be okay with a tidbit of chicken.”

And it was like Lance spoke the magic words. Blue was suddenly rubbing herself against his ankles, purring her little heart out.

He heard Keith hum thoughtfully on the other end. “Should work, mine just prefers fish.”

“Sounds like a typical cat – Blue, hun, yes, you can have some but you gotta be patient.”

Blue looked up at him with wide blue eyes, blinking at him. She gave a short  _mrrt_  and jumped up onto his shoulder.

“Blue-!”

“You okay over there?”

“Just fi-fine, Blue seriously, I love you too, but really. Hold on, Keith.” Lance grabbed the phone from his shoulder before Blue knocked it off and into the pan on the stove.

Once it was safe, he reached up and brought his cat down to cuddle, murmuring, “Blue, you gotta behave. I have a cute boy on the phone, and you’re being a distraction, baby.”

Blue reached up and batted his nose with a paw. Lance smiled down at her. She really was a great cat.

“Can you be quiet for me, Blue? Just for a little bit?” He scratched her chest and her eyes fell shut as she started to purr again. “That’s a good kitty, such a good girl. I’m gonna put you down now, okay? I promised you some chicken, but you gotta behave, ya hear?”

She thwapped her tail on his side, content with what she was hearing and her way of saying ‘yeah, yeah, okay’. Lance set her down on her feet and peeked on the chicken once more before picking his phone up again.

“Okay, I’m back, sorry about that.”

He could practically hear Keith’s smile in his response, “No big deal, Red gets the same way.”

Lance laughed back. “Cats are strange, but I don’t how I would survive without mine.”

“Haha, same.”

They lapsed into a slightly awkward silence, but Lance didn’t really notice because he had to pay attention to his food again. The stir fried vegetables were almost done, and the chicken was almost to temp.

It stretched so long that Lance was almost afraid that Keith had hung up on him.

“You still there, pretty boy?”

He listened as Keith cursed and clunks sounded through the call.

“Sorry, what was that?”

Lance rolled his eyes and pulled off his vegetables. “You dropped your phone, didn’t you?”

“Did not-”

“And you fell asleep.”

“How the hell-”

“And you’re blushing right now, aren’t you pretty boy?”

“I- how…what?”

Laughter bubbled in Lance’s chest. He couldn’t help it, Keith sounded so freaking cute when he was embarrassed. “You fell asleep, yes or no?”

“…maybe.”

“I’ll take that as a yes. What has you so tired anyways? You practically subsist on double shots every day.”

Keith groaned. There was rustling on his head, and if Lance was sure he was rolling over. “Engineering homework takes a long time to get done.”

“What kind of engineering? I have a friend who’s in mechanical.”

“Astro. It’s that and physics that are keeping me up all night.”

“Dude, that can’t be healthy. No wonder you’re falling asleep on the phone.”

"Couldn't help it when you were talking to your cat like that," Keith's voice was muffled and it sounded like he was face first on his pillow. "Was cute."

“Duuuudee, why do you notice everything?!” Lance hid his face in his hands, covering the blush that Keith couldn’t even see.

“S’my thing.”

“Ughhh, okay. Fine. That’s cool, pretty boy. I gotta eat dinner soon, so why did you want me to call you after work today?” The chicken was close to being done, a few more minutes.

“Mmm, wanna go on a date?”

Lance ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Well, I don't see why not, I've been dropping hints since you walked in the first time, pretty boy."

“And that’s why I’m asking. So… is that a yes or a no?”

Lance thought it was really cute that Keith seemed really unsure about whether he would say yes or not. “You bet, when and where?”

He heard Keith sit up. “When are you done tomorrow?”

“Four-ish. Have a couple later classes.”

“Cool, I get done at three. I can pick you up by the student union?”

“Sure, I’ll see you then, pretty boy.”

“You’re never going to stop calling me that are you?”

“Not if I can keep getting away with it,” Lance laughed.

Keith joined in a little, before groaning. “Dammit, Red, what?”

“Haha, did your cat get you?”

“Yeah, it’s time to feed him and give him his meds. So I better go.”

Lance leaned against the counter and hugged himself. “Yeah, go take care your cat, Keith. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you later, Lance.” And with that, the line went dead.

Lance took the phone away from his face and stared down at it. He really couldn’t get his mind wrapped around the fact that Keith was talking to him outside of the coffee shop. Lance really thought that he would be out of his league, or just think he was annoying with all the flirting he was doing. But Keith didn’t seem to mind, and if he went out on a limb here, Lance was pretty sure that Keith actually liked it.

He smiled at his phone as he saved Keith’s number, entering his name in as “Pretty Boy <3”.

Blue yowled, and Lance suddenly remembered that the chicken was still in the oven.

“Shit, shit, shit,” he muttered as he pulled it out.

The bottom was a little charred, but the rest would be alright if he used some of the juices from the stir fry to rehydrate it.

“Sorry, Blue it might be a little dry. You still want some?” He looked down at his cat, watching as she licked her lips. “I’ll take that as a yes then. Remind me to get you some fish for Valentine’s day to make up for this and tomorrow, okay?”

Blue mewed and rubbed his ankles.

“Love you too, pretty kitty.”

* * *

 

He stood outside the student union, hands shoved in his pockets, waiting for Keith to show up. The day was surprisingly warm, Lance only felt the need to wear a light jacket over his long sleeve tee. It was one of his nicer ones. Blue had looked at him in the morning with a serious 'you are really wearing that on your date' look when he pulled on one of his painting shirts. Being an art student never really let him keep his clothes clean, especially when he had the luck to knock around and fumble with his paint at least once every time he was in the studio to work. Paint ended up on his clothes one way or another. It was partly his fault for not wearing a smock, but those really cramped his style and Lance refused to wear one, even if it was the last thing he had to do.

Though, today was an exception.

He had a date with Keith, and he couldn't just show up covered in paint. It wouldn't really make a great first impression – okay, so he's already made the first impression and that was him being a flirt. This was different. He wanted Keith to see that he wanted to give this a shot. Even if they've only known each other for a few days at the most. That didn't make a difference, right? If they clicked, they clicked and they kept going on dates. If not, at least Lance could say they gave it an honest effort before settling to be just friends.

Lance was startled out of his thoughts when a motorcycle roared up, pulling him to a stop in front of him. The rider flipped the kickstand down and tore off their helmet.

_It was Keith._

Lance felt his jaw drop. Holy shit, Keith rode a bike everywhere? How in the hell did he not freeze to death?

Keith shook his hair out, running a hand through it to pull it out of his face a bit. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes were bright. If it was even possible for him to get any prettier, he just proved Lance wrong.

“You ready?” he asked, smiling at Lance’s dumbstruck expression.

Lance had to shake himself, looking up to the sky for guidance before leveling his gaze on Keith. God, he was beautiful. He belonged on that bike.

"Yeah." He sounded so far away, breathless even. Who could blame him, though, Keith just stole what ability of breathing he had by showing up on that thing.

“Then get over here, it’s going to take a while to get where we got to be.” Keith tossed him a helmet that he pulled out of one of the side bags.

Lance fumbled to catch it but kept a hold of it. Keith laughed and pulled his own back on. Lance did the same as he walked up to the bike. It was still rumbling, the frame vibrating. It was a wonder that it hadn't fallen apart yet.

“It’s like riding a horse, Lance. Just swing a leg over,” Keith coached.

He pulled himself forward, giving Lance more room to get on. The taller boy was a little clumsy but as soon as he had his hand planted on Keith’s hips, the kickstand disappeared and they were off.

Lance yelped and leaned forward to wrap his arms around Keith's waist, not expecting the sudden takeoff. He heard and felt Keith chuckle as they gained more speed. They merged with traffic, weaving in and out between cars with ease. Lance could tell that Keith had been riding motorcycles for quite a while. He changed gears so smoothly, Lance barely noticed. Turns happened so naturally that Lance couldn’t believe that they had been turning in the first place.

Ten minutes later, they were outside the college city and heading towards the mountains. Lance hugged Keith closer as the other opened up the throttle as soon as they hit the open road. They were flying. The rumble of the machine beneath spoke of strength and freedom, and Lance enjoyed every second of it.

The mountains loomed closer, and soon enough they started to climb. Lance still had no idea where they were going, but the longer they were on the road and the higher they climbed, the more excited Lance got. He honestly thought that it was going to be a simple dinner date, hell even a dinner at the dining courts would have been an experience in his book.

The road switched back and forth, cut into the mountain's face. Keith took the turns expertly, some of them so low that Lance squeezed his eyes tight and prayed that they didn't tip over. It took them awhile, but eventually, they reached the summit.

The air was thin, and both of them were breathing a little hard than they normally would.

Keith slowed and turned off the trail, and parking his bike on a small plateau. A campfire ring sat close to the edge, and the sight…

“Woah…” Lance swore he could almost see the next town over from here.

Keith flipped the kickstand out and turned off the bike. Lance let go of his waist, but let his hands rest gently on his hips. He was staring in awe at the sight that Keith just brought him too. If he knew about this place before, he would have been up here every weekend sketching.

“Sorry for the drive, but this was the best I could do on short notice. Nearly every restaurant in town was booked,” Keith explained.

Lance took off his helmet, barely taking his eyes away from the view. “Dude, this is way better than going to some fancy restaurant in town. Like, holy…I can see for days.”

Keith followed him in taking off his helmet and looked at him out of the side of his eyes. "You really don't mind?"

“Why would I be complaining about this?” Lance gestured at the city below them and looked at Keith. “I never knew a view like this existed!”

Keith’s eyes softened and he turned to look out over the cliff. “I come out here a lot. Sometimes the pace of the city just gets to be too much, you know? This reminds me of home a little bit.” He sounded far away.

“Still, I’ve been here nearly all my life, and I never thought the mountains had pull-offs like this.” Lance waved a hand at the campfire ring and lack of guard rail.

“They don’t. I made the campfire, and no one takes this road to go through the mountains. There’s a tunnel down at the bottom that’s a lot faster than going up and over.”

Lance hummed and slid off the bike, resting the helmet on the seat. He was a little unsteady at first, but he quickly found his legs again. Making his way over to the edge, he shoved his hands in his pockets and just took in the sight. He felt so removed from life moving about thousands of feet below.

“It’s really peaceful up here…”

Keith came up and set something on the ground. “Part of the reason why I come out here. I like the peace and quiet.”

Lance looked over and audibly sucked in a breath. The sun was starting to set, bathing the mountain side in an orange glow. Keith was looking out over the city, serene. His hair was drifting gently in the breeze, and his eyes looked almost purple in the light. The sun highlighted everything with a warm glow, and Lance could feel him falling farther and farther. At this point, he didn't really see himself climbing back up. Let him hit the bottom, he didn't care.

Keith glanced over at him. "You hungry?"

Lance blinked and looked down where Keith had set a basket on the ground. They were having a sunset picnic.

He looked back up and smiled. “A little bit, yeah. What’d bring, chef?”

Keith looked away and mumbled, “Just some PB&J because that’s all I had, sorry.”

“Sounds great to me.” Lance took a seat and started to root through the basket.

He pulled out the sandwiches and two thermoses. He set them aside in favor of one of the sandwiches. Keith sat down next to him and took the other sandwich. They ate in a comfortable silence, not that Lance felt like talking much. He was too enraptured by the sights, or the way the sun played off of Keith’s hair. It really wasn’t fair that he could pull off a mullet in this decade, but he really couldn’t bring himself to make fun of it. He didn’t know if it was the way things were so quiet up here beside the breezes making the leaves rustle, or that he  _really_  didn’t want to ruin any future chance he had with Keith, but whatever it was it kept him quiet.

Time passed and soon enough the sun had set and the stars had begun to appear in the sky. They were far enough away from the city that the light pollution did little to hide the stars. Lance leaned back on his hands, legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles as he looked up at the sky. He really needed to come back up here with one of his sketch books, this place was too beautiful to not want to sketch it all down.

He glanced over at Keith and saw that he had his knees drawn up and his arms wrapped around them. He looked like a little kid like that.

Lance turned back to the sky and laid back on the ground. “So why did we come all the way out here, pretty boy?”

“Y’ain’t going to stop with that ever, are you?”

Lance snorted. “Did-did you just say  _y’ain’t_?”

Keith scowled and didn’t answer, looking away.

At the same time, Lance was dissolving into a fit of giggles. “I can’t, oh my god, I can’t believe you just said  _y’ain’t_. Are you kidding me? Where are you from, Texas?”

“Actually…”

“Oh my god…”

Lance was a goner now. He was nearly rolling on the ground, laughing to the point that he had tears in his eyes. Keith watched him with a raised eyebrow, clearly not seeing the humor in the situation.

It took a good five minutes before Lance finally calmed down enough to talk again.

“Oh, dear god, I’m sorry, but – ooh boy, that was a good one, Keith. I didn’t know you had it in you. Wow, that was a good laugh. I haven’t laughed like that since Hunk accidentally superglued himself to his engineering project.” He wiped his eyes and took a steadying breath.

“I remember that! He was freaking out and nearly broke it trying to get himself unstuck,” Keith mused, smiling to himself. “Even the professor cracked up when he asked for help.”

Lance giggled, holding his sides. “Holy shit, stop.”

Keith graced him with a grin before turning back to the sky. The sun’s light was nearly gone now and the sky was a rich blanket full of stars. Lance looked up and let himself get lost in the endless night above him.

The temperature dropped. Shivers forced Lance to sit up and wrap his arms around himself. Keith scooted closer and handed him one of the thermoses.

“Here, it’s hot cocoa.”

Lance took it, smiling in thanks. He took a sip and let the warm drink make its way through him. There was nothing better than hot chocolate on a cold night. Keith took a sip from his own. Lance leaned on his shoulder, seeking whatever warmth he could. He really should have worn a heavier jacket. Keith glanced over at him. He had a brow raised, but when Lance didn’t move away, he leaned back. His own shiver shook them both. Lance wrapped one arm around Keith’s waist and pulled him closer.

“So… lemme guess. You have espresso in your thermos.”

Keith choked on his tongue. “Dude, how the hell do you keep guessing all these things?”

Lance shrugged. “I have a pretty good intuition. And if you know Hunk, then you should know that he rubs off on everyone, and I’ve known him for years.”

“That would definitely explain it.” Keith took another sip and relaxed more into Lance.

They were both content to enjoy each other’s warmth and to just watch the stars. Lance could see more stars than he ever had before. He was entranced, everywhere he looked there were more stars, something new to see.

Keith pointed out a few of his favorite constellations. Lance could only really point out Orion and the Big Dipper. He got Keith to laugh out loud when he made a big show of connecting all the stars together. Keith’s smile did something to Lance, he had no idea what, but it made him want to see Keith smile all the time. Extra points if he were the one to make him smile.

Like all dates, sooner or later they had to head back to town. They packed up and were back on the bike, speeding down the mountain. Lance hugged Keith close, enjoying the rush of wind around them, the way the motorcycled growled beneath them. He was happy, he was content. This had been one of the best dates ever, if not  _the_  best. Keith hadn't made him feel stupid, hadn't asked anything of him. It was so different than trying to take someone where they had to put on a show about how cool they were, how in love they were with each other. Keith had simply enjoyed his company like they had been friends for years. Sure, they were still kind of awkward around the edges, but Lance didn't care. He enjoyed the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, he enjoyed the thermos of hot cocoa, he enjoyed the sights (the city, the sky, and Keith). He never thought that simply looking at the sky, or seeing the boy he pined after when he walked into Juniberry Café for three days straight lit up by the sunset to make him feel so light, so happy.

He really didn’t want this to end.

They rode into the city, and Lance shouted directions to his apartment over the wind. He led Keith through each turn, each street name. It was a slow journey back to reality. The date let Lance have a glimpse at the haven he sought, the way everything finally felt right.

Soon enough they pulled up in front of Lance’s apartment. He could see Blue watching and waiting for him in the window. Lance saw her tail thrash, but her ears were perked and she looked curious as he and Keith walked up to his door.

Lance turned and faced Keith.

“I had a great time, Keith,” he said. He meant it. He really did.

Keith smiled up at him, his expression soft. “I’m glad you did, I did too.”

Lance leaned back against his door, procrastinating on unlocking it and ending the night. They stood there staring at each other, a mutual fondness pouring between them through just their eyes. He watching the change in Keith’s eyes, the soft look transforming to determination.

Keith stepped forward and gently pulled Lance down to meet him by the collar of his jacket.

His lips were soft and warm against Lance’s. His eyes slipped shut as he placed a hand on the small of Keith’s back and the other on the corner of his jaw. Keith pressed him back against the door, the hand on his jacket crept up to his neck. They held each other with a tenderness that neither of them expected from the other.

Keith pulled away and Lane leaned down to press their foreheads together.

“I’ll see you tomorrow at the café?” Keith sounded out of breath.

Lance laughed and hugged him close, enjoying the way Keith’s voice did unimaginable things to him.

“With your double shot ready, pretty boy.”

* * *

_My tumblr is[here](http://thespace-dragon.tumblr.com/)._


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